From the world’s first electric powered helicopter, to the largest helicopter ever
built, here are nine of the most extreme helicopters ever!!!
9: Volocopter 2X
With more people living in cities than in rural areas, traffic congestion is getting
worse.
To address this pressing problem, key transportation players are looking to the skies.
Forget self driving cars, your next means of commute might be a flying machine like
the Volocopter 2X!
It’s a multi-rotator electronic helicopter with 18 propellers.
Its cabin seats two people and it can fly without any human intervention.
It can also be steered by using a joystick, with guidance from assistive support systems.
So basically you can just use a remote control to get to work!
The Volocopter 2X has numerous advantages over ordinary helicopters.
It’s much quieter and doesn’t pollute the environment.
It doesn’t need fuel and can use renewable energy, making it a sustainable form of transportation.
You can control the Volocopter using your smartphone and summon it to pick you up at
the nearest hub.
When it drops you off, someone else can summon it, and so on.
Uber for the skies!!
The 2X has a max payload of 160 kg, with an operating weight of 290 kg when empty.
It can cover a maximum distance of 27 km (17 miles) when it’s cruising at 50 km/h (31
mph).
Its 18 motors are powered by 9 independent battery systems, with each system supporting
two motors.
Plus, it only takes 40 minutes to recharge.
The Volocopter 2X flew for the first time in the US on January 8, 2017, during Intel's
keynote address.
It utilizes some of Intel's technology, and it’s owned by e-Volo, an aviation startup
from Germany.
They market the Volocopter 2X as a certified ultra-light aircraft, with the selling price
available upon request.
8: V-22 Osprey
In 1980, President Jimmy Carter sent the US military to rescue 52 American workers held
captive at the US embassy in Tehran.
The mission failed, but the army learned some hard lessons.
There was an urgent need for an aircraft that could transport and deploy combat troops on
any surface quickly.
It had to have a good range, speed, and the ability to perform an amphibious landing.
Aircraft manufacturers, Bell and Boeing jointly entered into a contract with the government
to create an aircraft with these capabilities.
After years of development and testing, they produced the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, which
was the world’s first tilt-rotor aircraft.
What is a tilt-rotor?
When the V-22 is taking off or landing, it operates like a helicopter.
During these maneuvers, the helicopter’s nacelles, which house the engines, are vertical,
and the rotors are horizontal.
Once airborne, it rotates the nacelles forward to 90 degrees, making the rotors vertical.
In just 12 seconds, the V-22 transforms from a helicopter into a high-speed turboprop aircraft.
It has more incredible features, like the ability to perform a rolling-takeoff and landing
by tilting its nacelles to 45 degrees.
It can fold its blades and wings in 90 seconds, which makes it easy to fit the V-22 in an
airplane carrier or assault ship.
Six prototypes flew for the first time on 19 March 1989.
Presently, various divisions of the US Army use the V-22 for logistics support, combat
search & rescue, and warfare support.
They are critical to the president’s security detail, particularly on overseas trips.
How much is it you ask??
Remarkably, a single V-22 costs more than 200 million dollars to build!!
7: Mil Mi-10
The Mil Mi-10 is a large helicopter categorized as an aerial crane.
The Soviets made it in the 1960s to transport bulky loads.
It was an improvement on the Mi-6 helicopter.
And, it holds several world records for transporting heavy loads at high altitudes.
On 28 May 1965, it airlifted a load of 25,105 kg (11,387lbs.) to an altitude of 2,000 m
(6,600 ft.)
The Mi-10 lifting ability is complemented by tall undercarriage legs, and a wide track
under the fuselage, which allows it to taxi over loads.
It can comfortably carry 28 passengers or a weight of 3000 kg (6,600 lbs.) in the fuselage
with a ground clearance of 3.75 m (12.3 ft.).
Can you guess how much this monster weighs?
Well, the Mi-10 weighs 27 tons when empty.
It can achieve a max speed of 335 km/h (208 mph).
But, it cruises at 180 km/h (112 mph) with a range of 430 km (267 mi).
Mi-10s are still active in Russia.
The Soviets also made the most powerful heavy-lift helicopter in history codenamed the Mil Mi-26.
And now for number 6 but first be sure to subscribe if you are new here!!
6: AH-1Z Viper
This helicopter is a technologically advanced military helicopter, launched in the year
2000.
The US Marine Corps incorporated it in 2010, and full-scale production began in 2012.
The intimidating viper has some of the best weapons and technologies, such as an infrared
suppression system, radar jammer, and a radar warning system.
It carries about 2 tons of weapons on its stub-wings, which complement its frightening
look.
Furthermore, it can accommodate more weapons including anti-ship missiles, incendiary bombs,
and supersonic missiles, with infrared target detection technology.
Like in the AH-1W Super Cobra, the co-pilot or gunner sits at the front and the pilot
at the rear.
It can operate during the day, at night and in adverse weather conditions.
The Marine Corps has plans to procure 189 Vipers by 2019.
That’s just right around the corner.
5: Hughes XH-17
Dubbed as the ‘Flying Crane,’ it was one of the first attempts to create a heavy-lifting
helicopter in the US.
The Kellett Aircraft Corporation designed the XH-17 but sold the blueprints to the Hughes
Aircraft Company in 1947.
Howard Hughes, the company’s founder (remember him?)
commissioned the XH-17 to be built.
By 1948, it had taken shape.
To cut costs, the fabricators salvaged parts from World War 2 airplanes.
They got the undercarriage from a B-25 bomber, the rear wheels from a Douglas C-54 Skymaster,
the tank from a B-29 Superfortress, and the cockpit from a Waco CG-15 glider.
This Frankenstein monster had a maximum takeoff weight of 43,500 lb. (19,731 kg).
It still holds the world record for the largest rotor system at 36 m (120 ft.)
But, the size of the rotor made the drive system inefficient, thus limiting its range
to 64 km (40 miles.
It flew during test flights for three years beginning in 1952.
However, it was too cumbersome and inefficient to continue operating.
4: MIL V-12
The Mil V-12 is another gigantic Soviet helicopter, which holds the world record for the biggest
helicopter ever produced.
But, it resembles a normal airplane with rotors attached to the wings.
So, why did the Soviets decide to build such a monster?
The Mil V-12 was meant to transport heavy loads such as missiles to the remotest regions
of Siberia.
Normal planes could not handle the task since the areas lacked airports.
On the other hand, the MIL V-12 could carry 196 passengers, with a crew of six.
It broke several world records like lifting 40,000 kg (88,000 lb.) to 2,255 m (7,398 ft.)
on August 6, 1969.
There were only two prototypes built.
The first almost tore itself apart during a trial in 1965.
The second prototype flew in March 1973, from Panki to Lyubertsy.
The Soviet Union discontinued the V-12, since transporting ballistic missiles was no longer
a top priority.
One prototype remained in Panki.
The second is exhibited at the Monino Air Force Museum in Russia.
3: Sikorsky X2
Commercial jet planes cruise at speeds of 878 km/h (546 mph) to 926 km/h (575 mph).
One of the fastest civil helicopter, the H155 made by Airbus Helicopter, has a mere top
speed of 324 km/h (201 mph).
Evidently, helicopters are slow.
But, the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation based in Connecticut, aims to change this by churning
out fast models such as the X2.
Before the X2, there was the S-69, which introduced the Advancing Blade Concept (ABC).
It could reach a top speed of 444 km/h (276 mph).
But, its airframe vibrated excessively at fast speeds.
Sikorsky abandoned the S-69 model, but recent developments in airframe materials have ignited
the manufacturer’s quest for top speeds.
The recent X2 model is bred for pure speed.
It has two front rotor blades placed in a co-axial configuration and a pusher propeller
to drive the X2.
During a speed test in September 2010, it reached a top speed of 287 mph (462 km/h).
It’s much quieter than the S-69 and can fly at 10,000 feet.
Sikorsky has also implemented the ABC concept in the S-97 Raider military helicopter, and
in the Eurocopter X3, which has a cruising speed of 264 mph.
2: De Lackner HZ-1
The HZ-1, also known as the “Aerocycle” was a one-man helicopter, made for the average
soldier for use in battlefields.
It had a small engine, which would drive two rotor propellers.
Strangely, the soldier would stand on a platform, directly over the blades.
De Lackner refused to include any sort of safety device between the platform and the
blades.
Therefore, you really had to stay put and avoid falling off during a flight.
On the positive side, the controls were simplified.
During tests, untrained soldiers could fly the HZ-1 after 5 to 20 minutes of instructions.
The prototype made a tethered flight on 22 November 1954 and a free flight in January
1955 at the now-abandoned Brooklyn Army Terminal.
In 1956, Fort Eustis in Virginia became the new testing ground for the HZ-1.
Captain Selmer Sundby who directed the trials realized that the HZ-1 was difficult to fly.
The rotors would kick up small rocks and other debris.
It also crashed several times after the entanglement of its rotors.
Wind tunnel tests at the Langley Research Center, in Virginia further revealed that
the HZ-1 had an uncontrollable pitching motion.
Due to the limitations, the Army terminated the project.
1: Boeing CH-47 Chinook
It’s an American heavy-lift chopper manufactured by Boeing Rotorcraft Systems.
More than 1,200 twin-engine Chinooks have been built since the year 1962.
A unit goes for $38.5 million.
This badass chopper was named after the Native American Chinook people, who occupied modern-day
Washington State.
To transport troops and cargo efficiently, it has multiple doors across its fuselage.
Using its three external hooks, it can also carry unslung loads.
When it made a debut in 1962, it had a top speed of 315 km/h (196 mph ), which was faster
than most attack and utility helicopters.
It has a payload of 24,000 lb. (10,886 kg), carries a crew of three and has a capacity
of 33 to 55 troops.
It’s still one of America’s fastest helicopters and has been successful worldwide.
For instance, the Long-range version, model 234LR has been used as a commercial transport
helicopter by the British Airways Helicopters.
It has participated in other secondary missions including search and rescue, disaster relief,
firefighting, aircraft recovery, and construction assistance.
In 2011, after the Fukushima Nuclear power plant disaster, three Japanese CH-47s were
used to cool down reactors using seawater.
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